We've Crashed Everything in This Moment
by ALC Punk
Summary: Faith waits in jail for Judgement Day, and receives an unexpected visitor.


[Buffyverse] We've Crashed Everything in This Moment Ana Cotton  
Jun 18, 2001 04:13 PDT  
Disclaimer: First. I don't own them, I'm merely playing. Second, no  
money is being made.  
  
Notes: I wrote this while listening to Portishead. No surprise it turned  
out like this, then... In fact, the title is from "Only You"  
Oh. And it's 6am, and I've been up since yesterday.  
  
Spoiler warnings: Uh... First season of Angel, fifth season of Buffy.  
Not really overtly, but.  
  
Dedication: to Lynxie, Sparks and Kossie, who all jumped on me and said  
"Write Faith!" "And Dru!" "Right!"  
  
We've Crashed Everything in This Moment  
by Ana Lyssie Cotton  
  
It's a dimly lit room, and she sits on her bench calmly. She has been  
here for a long while, never finding anything but a sort of calm peace.  
Others in the jail rail against their captors, or run rackets with  
everything from gum to drugs. But not her. She sits in her cell and  
looks blankly at the wall.  
  
And tries to forget.  
  
--  
  
Faith felt as if she walked through water. Not many of the other  
prisoners could even get her attention let alone touch her. After the  
first one had ended up with broken ribs and a concussion, they'd all let  
her be.  
  
Not that she cared one way or the other. None of this was important. If  
her time with Angel had shown her anything, it was that regret for  
mistakes never goes away. Wallowing in self pity was a good artform, but  
it only got you so far. Pretending the world didn't exist only worked  
until you sensed the tremours from the most recent World-Ending spell  
cast in distant Sunnydale.  
  
She snorted silently, ignoring the fact that she wasn't supposed to care  
anymore. After all, she was Evil, yeah? Yeah.  
  
At times Faith wondered if it was all worth it. Paying her dues for  
things she'd done willingly. It sounded so silly. And yet she couldn't  
make herself leave. The trial had ended quickly with barely a word from  
her. She hadn't even had her attorney find that file the Boss had told  
her about once.  
  
It wasn't worth it.  
  
She'd done what she'd done. And if she didn't get rest, she'd do worse.  
Or maybe she'd just end it all. That knife at Angel's...  
  
A shiver ran through her as she remembered it. So large and shiny. And  
so sharp. Angel had known. Looking straight at her with concern in his  
eyes... It was the concern that stopped her. Knowing that someone cared.  
Someone wanted her not to die.  
  
It was what had sent her to the police. Angel, for all that she'd tried  
to kill him at least four times, had cared.  
  
And there was a debt to pay to society.  
  
Faith wondered if the blonde cop had let up on the vampire or not. She'd  
seemed to like him, yet want him dead. Of course, with the people she  
knew that was pretty much par for their lives.  
  
She wasn't allowed anything. Not even stakes. Why she thought she'd need  
them in jail didn't make any sense. Angel wasn't going to try to kill  
her again. And he wasn't going to lose his soul yet. The Boss had been  
pretty clear on that, after the last debacle.  
  
Angelus, while powerful, would never be a trustworthy ally. Best just to  
kill him.  
  
Besides, life in jail was often too short to worry about vampires.  
Unless some vampire decided jail cells were fun.  
  
At least she had a bit of holy water. She'd begged it off a priest after  
her second week there. The man had seemed very reluctant to give her  
some. And she couldn't even explain, since they all thought she was  
insane.  
  
Insane. As if the word conjured her, Drusilla glided into Faith's cell.  
  
There was a moment of surprise, then weariness. "Hello."  
  
"Hello, pretty Slayer."  
  
The two women studied each other for a moment. One stood regally in  
red-velvet and black leather. The other sat slouched in prison greys.  
Both were dark-haired.  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"My Spike has finally left me." Dru looked around the room and smiled,  
"And you need a friend."  
  
"That's nice."  
  
"For the ugly Slayer, the blonde. Buffy." Drusilla spat the name and  
stalked around in a circle. "She doesn't deserve him. He's MINE."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And she's tainted him. He's GOOD. He's isn't my evil, lovely, luscious  
Spike anymore." Drusilla slammed a fist into one wall.  
  
"Why are you here?" Faith repeated wearily.  
  
"I wish a new friend." A smile graced the vampire's lips. "The stars  
said to find you. Strong, young, beautiful."  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I don't want to be a vampire. And, really. Evil? Been there, done that,  
didn't get anything but this sense of crushing guilt." The Slayer stood  
and began stalking towards the vampire. "Leave."  
  
Drusilla pouted childishly and crossed her arms. "Make me."  
  
"Certainly." Faith lashed out, her fist feinting for Dru's head.  
  
The vampire ducked and caught the kick aimed at her side on an elbow.  
She yelped, and then dodged again as Faith snap-kicked her knee. It  
buckled slightly, then locked as she pivotted and sent a roundhouse  
flying towards the Slayer.  
  
Faith ducked under it and came up to slam a fist into Drusilla's gut  
folding her in half. Continuing her advantage, Faith brought her knee  
into Dru's chin, the slammed an elbow into her back.  
  
The vampire dropped to the floor, sobbing.  
  
"Everyone's always hurting me! Nobody likes Dru. Dru never--" A doubled  
fist hit the back of her neck, and she choked off into whimpers.  
  
"Now. Be a good vampire and go away before I actually have to kill you."  
  
"No."  
  
"It will be painful."  
  
"You're lying." A sudden calm seemed to wash over Drusilla, and she  
attempted to sit up only to be dissuaded by another elbow to her back  
and a fist to her neck. "You have no stakes. I checked. No weapons, they  
said." She giggled.  
  
"I'm a Slayer." Faith said softly.  
  
"A neutured Slayer," Drusilla corrected. "Can't even slay vampires  
without a stake. A sliver of wood, a pointy end, a Slayer shall fall..."  
She singsonged.  
  
"I fell long ago."  
  
"Once, once, long ago... In a galaxy far far--what are you doing?"  
  
Faith ignored the question and finished fumbling Dru's dress open. Good  
thing it closed in the back or she'd've had to rip it. She studied the  
smooth paleness of the vampire's skin, then began counting vertebrae.  
  
Without stopping to think about it, Faith moved, sinking her knee into  
the middle of Dru's back. Her weight pinned the vampiress completely.  
Gritting her teeth, Faith readied herself.  
  
A strange slurping noise echoed in the quiet cell as she plunged her  
hand through Drusilla's skin. The vampire cried out, but Faith ignored  
her, digging, knowing what she would find. The slurping noise that would  
have echoed as she drew out her hand was lost in the sound of Dru  
screaming.  
  
For a moment, Faith looked at the still-beating heart with revulsion.  
Then she dove forward, rolling towards the bench. She could hear Dru  
scrabbling on the floor behind her, trying to reclaim what was hers as  
her blood emptied out onto the dusty floor.  
  
The bottle of holy water sat in a tiny alcove normally used to store  
books or contraband. Faith pulled it out and popped off the cap.  
Drusilla's hand closed on her ankle.  
  
A stream of water hit the heart, and it sizzled, froth welling up and  
spilling out to stain Faith's shirt and pants. Dru's clawed fingernails  
dug into her ankle, drawing blood.  
  
"Die, dammit."  
  
"Noooooooooooooooooo...."  
  
It took the entire bottle, but the heart burst into flames, then  
shattered into dust. Dru's body followed it a moment later leaving Faith  
crouching on the floor covered in foamy gook, blood, and a few  
second-degree burns.  
  
"Five by five..."  
  
The guards arrived a few moments later. Reports followed that she'd done  
it to herself in some sort of self-mutilating fit.  
  
--  
  
It's still a dimly lit room, though this time it's padded, too. She sits  
on her bench calmly. She has been here for a long while, never finding  
anything but a sort of calm peace. Others around her rail against their  
captors and fight them. But not her. She sits in her cell and looks  
blankly at the wall.  
  
And tries to forget. 


End file.
